Peter Schmuck's Orioles report card for the week of Aug. 7-13

Ben Margot / AP

Though the offense has been among the most productive in the majors since the All-Star break, it still has a tendency to go dormant at just the wrong times. Sunday’s game against the Oakland Athletics was a good example. The Orioles were slapping Oakland starter Kendall Graveman around in the early innings and somehow came away with just two runs despite reaching seven hits before there was an out in the third. This all coincided with Tim Beckham’s first hitless game as an Oriole, but he deserved a day off after the run he had been on. The Orioles scored 26 runs over four games against a dead team and won only twice … and it wasn’t because they pitched poorly. This team has plenty of pop, but the offense is inconsistent and prone to unproductive at-bats at critical times. On the brighter side, Adam Jones and Manny Machado each had eight RBIs last week.

Though the offense has been among the most productive in the majors since the All-Star break, it still has a tendency to go dormant at just the wrong times. Sunday’s game against the Oakland Athletics was a good example. The Orioles were slapping Oakland starter Kendall Graveman around in the early innings and somehow came away with just two runs despite reaching seven hits before there was an out in the third. This all coincided with Tim Beckham’s first hitless game as an Oriole, but he deserved a day off after the run he had been on. The Orioles scored 26 runs over four games against a dead team and won only twice … and it wasn’t because they pitched poorly. This team has plenty of pop, but the offense is inconsistent and prone to unproductive at-bats at critical times. On the brighter side, Adam Jones and Manny Machado each had eight RBIs last week.

The Orioles did not commit an error in the three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, but they committed five in the four-game set against the A’s. Amazingly, none had a real impact on either loss. Chris Davis was charged with an error for dropping a foul pop-up in right field in the A’s comeback victory Friday night, but the go-ahead run probably would have scored from third base anyway had he caught the ball. Still, five errors in four games is highly unusual for the usually dependable Orioles defense, and they've dropped out of the top 10 in the majors in fielding percentage (11th). They also dropped a notch, to tied for 12th, in fewest errors (65).

The Orioles did not commit an error in the three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, but they committed five in the four-game set against the A’s. Amazingly, none had a real impact on either loss. Chris Davis was charged with an error for dropping a foul pop-up in right field in the A’s comeback victory Friday night, but the go-ahead run probably would have scored from third base anyway had he caught the ball. Still, five errors in four games is highly unusual for the usually dependable Orioles defense, and they've dropped out of the top 10 in the majors in fielding percentage (11th). They also dropped a notch, to tied for 12th, in fewest errors (65).